


Dockyward Greetings

by QueenoftheHobbits



Series: Soft Thighs Series [59]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 40s AU, F/M, Fluff mixed with angst, overweight reader, plus size reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-29 05:27:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenoftheHobbits/pseuds/QueenoftheHobbits
Summary: Part 2 to ‘Letters From Home’You’d simply picked a name off a list, a random service man to write letters to. His name had drawn you to it...and then his letters did the same. But the war is over and meeting him is terrifying. N/A: AU in which Bucky and Steve come back from the war and nothing is sad.





	

Perhaps it was insane of you, but each day you would wait at the dockyard from the morning until the evening. Just waiting, always waiting. The dockyard workers gave you looks of sympathy every time they passed, but they didn’t understand. You weren’t some foolish girl waiting for man to come home that never would, you knew Bucky was coming back just not when and you wanted to be there when he came back. As terrifying as meeting Bucky was, you wanted to so incredibly badly. Over the past few years he’d become a fundamental part of your life merely through written words and you were unashamed to say that you had a soft spot for him. A massive soft spot, the type of soft spot that was perhaps less of a soft spot and more of a feeling of love and affection. It wasn’t as insane as it sounded, years of writing letters back and forth...surely something was going to grow from that? 

You wore your best dresses each day, pinned and curled your hair, wore your only pair of stockings that were real silk (Silk having been rationed for parachutes during the war), and stood in a dockyard each day watching other soldiers come home. But not Bucky. You didn’t mind the looks you got, you understood what they saw, and what you’d see if it was another girl standing at the dock day in day out. You instead ignored them. Maybe you were a fool, but you’d rather be a fool than miss seeing him home. 

You reached a point after perhaps the 4th day wherein you started to question whether he was actually coming or not, and whether you’d actually judged the time right. What if he was already in New York and just didn’t want to see you? What if something had happened before he’d gotten on the ship back to New York? What if, what if, what if. All these things ran through your head. 

So you dwelt on them heavily, smoothing out the fabric of your skirt, and wondering if he actually didn’t want to see you. Maybe he’d been lying all along? You weren’t exactly Vera Lynn or the Andrews Sisters, you were plump and soft and sometimes your hair just wouldn’t behave...You weren’t perfectly pristine at all moments and maybe he knew that and maybe he didn’t want that. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

But despite those fears, insecurities, despite all the questions you still stood there at the docks, waiting. You kept reminding yourself of all the sweet words, all tucked away in a box beside your bed. Kept reminding yourself that if he didn’t care the letters would have stopped years ago. He would never have put the effort in, would never have kept your photograph with him at all times, would have never told you he was coming home. But he did. 

On the 6th day you stood there and watched the dock, watched the expanse of blue and waited. Your mother would have called you a silly girl. Your father would have commented on dedication. Your friends...would have dragged you away and told you you needed to forget him. Luckily for you none of them were there. So you stood and waited. 

And then hours later you sighed, eyes turned down to the ground as once again the men coming off today’s ship didn’t appear to include James, but rather everyone but him. You turned your back to the ship and started walking away, a deep heaviness in your chest. It felt like a cruel trick that he was never there. You were so stuck in your lamenting as you moved forward that you didn’t hear your name being called almost incessantly ‘Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!’.

The caller continued to push forward, apologising as he shoved other men out of the way and barged past people that he could. His legs felt almost weak after spending so long on a ship, but he had to get to you. The distance seemed bigger than it was, like he was staring across a football stadium or an ocean. He didn’t expect you to be there, but the moment he spotted you he rushed to get to you, only to see you turn your back to him. 

“Y/N!” He was closer now, still rushing forward, uniform dishevelled and cheeks flushed. You turned on your heels at the call, surprised to hear your name, and lips parted as your eyes land on him.

“James?” The moment you realise it’s him, you’re careening forward, feet clicking against the ground as you move to close the distance.

The two of you collide together in a slight tangle of limbs, soft body against his harder one. He’s taller than you expect and there’s something undeniably reassuring about the way his arms wrapped around you and the feeling of his face pressed against your shoulder. For someone you’d never met in person before you found yourself comfortable, relaxed, content in his hold. 

The two of you pulled back from each other, not enough to stop the embrace but enough to look each other in the eye. “Hello...”

“Hi.” 

Silence filled the space between the two of you, the type where the both of you just stood there grinning at the other. He had a beautiful smile, it was prettier than you imagined. His voice was beautiful too, everything about him was beautiful. From the gentleness with which he held your thick waist to the blue of his eyes. 

“Would you like to go get something to drink? Celebrate your coming home?” You didn’t want to presume that he would want to spend the rest of the day with you, he had family that you were sure he’d want to see as well. But by God, you didn’t want to leave now, you didn’t want to see him walk away. 

“I’d love to” He said it with a smile before leaning in and kissing your cheek, the contact surprised you and you smiled bashfully back. 

Pulling away and taking his arm you figured that this was the start of something that you’d never regret. You’d never regret writing those letters to a stranger, never forget growing closer to a man risking his life, because James Barnes was...sweet and beautiful and he looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky. 


End file.
